Swipe toolbar to switch tabs

• US 9,569,004 B2
• Filed: 08/22/2013
• Issued: 02/14/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 08/22/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Google LLC (Alphabet Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Google Inc. (Alphabet Inc.)
• Inventors: Holgate, Carson L., Trainor, David Andrew, Weber, Arnaud Claude
• Primary Examiner(s): Abdul-Ali, Omar
• Application Number:
  US13/973,970
• Publication Number:
  US 20150058787A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,272 Days
• Field of Search: 715/777, 715/863
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/017 Gesture based interaction, e.g. based on a set of recognized hand gestures interaction based on gestures traced on a digitiser G06F3/04883
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0483 Interaction with page-structured environments, e.g. book metaphor
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0485 Scrolling or panning
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/04883 for inputting data by handwriting, e.g. gesture or text

Abstract

Aspects of the subject technology relate to switching tabs in an application. A system is configured to provide for the display an application interface. The application interface includes a toolbar and content associated with a first tab from a plurality of tabs open in the application. The system is further configured to receive, via an input device, a swipe gesture on the toolbar in the application interface and switch, in response to the receiving of the swipe gesture, from displaying in the application interface the content associated with the first tab to displaying content associated with a second tab in the plurality of tabs.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method for switching tabs in an application, the method comprising:

displaying an application interface on a touch screen, the application interface comprising at least an address toolbar and content associated with a first tab from a plurality of tabs open in the application;

receiving, on the touch screen, a swipe gesture on the address toolbar in the application interface;

displaying, in response to the receiving of the swipe gesture, a preview portion of content associated with a second tab from the plurality of tabs while the swipe gesture is being received; and

switching, in response to the the swipe gesture satisfying a predetermined threshold, from displaying the content associated with the first tab to displaying the content associated with the second tab in the plurality of tabs.

2. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the application is a web browser, and wherein the address toolbar is for the web browser and is configured to receive and display a uniform resource locator (URL).

3. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the application interface displayed on the touch screen comprises a user interface component containing a visual indication representing each tab in the plurality of tabs open in the application.

4. The computer-implemented method of claim 3, wherein the visual indication for the tab, having content displayed in the application interface, is highlighted.

5. The computer-implemented method of claim 4, wherein the switching from displaying the content associated with the first tab to displaying content associated with a second tab comprises removing a highlighting from the visual indication for the first tab and highlighting the visual indication for the second tab.

6. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, further comprising:

determining a direction for the swipe gesture; and

selecting, based on the direction for the swipe gesture, the second tab from the plurality of tabs open in the application.

7. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, further comprising:

determining a length of the swipe gesture; and

selecting, based on the length of the swipe gesture, the second tab from the plurality of tabs open in the application.

8. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the second tab is adjacent to the first tab.

9. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the swipe gesture is a horizontal swipe gesture.

10. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the address toolbar is positioned horizontally at a top portion of the application interface.

11. A system for switching tabs in an application, the system comprising:

one or more processors; and

a machine-readable medium comprising instructions stored therein, which when executed by the one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform operations comprising;

providing for display an application interface, the application interface comprising an address toolbar and content associated with a first tab from a plurality of tabs open in the application;

receiving, via an input device, a swipe gesture on the address toolbar in the application interface;

displaying, in response to the receiving of the swipe gesture, a preview portion of content associated with a second tab from the plurality of tabs while the swipe gesture is being received; and

switching, in response to the swipe gesture satisfying a predetermined threshold, from displaying in the application interface the content associated with the first tab to displaying content associated with the second tab in the plurality of tabs.

12. The system of claim 11, wherein the input device is a touch screen and the application interface is displayed on the touch screen.

13. The system of claim 11, wherein the application is a web browser, and wherein the address toolbar is for the web browser and is configured to receive and display a uniform resource locator (URL).

14. The system of claim 11, wherein the application interface is displayed on a touch screen and comprises a user interface component containing a visual indication representing each tab in the plurality of tabs open in the application, and wherein the visual indication for the tab whose content is displayed in the application interface is highlighted.

15. The system of claim 11, wherein the operations further comprise:

determining a direction for the swipe gesture; and

selecting, based on the direction for the swipe gesture, the second tab from the plurality of tabs open in the application.

16. The system of claim 11, wherein the operations further comprise:

determining a length of the swipe gesture; and

selecting, based on the length of the swipe gesture, the second tab from the plurality of tabs open in the application.

17. A non-transitory machine-readable medium comprising instructions stored therein, which when executed by a machine, cause the machine to perform operations comprising:

displaying a browser interface on a touch screen, the browser interface comprising an address toolbar and content associated with a first tab from a plurality of tabs open in a web browser;

receiving, on the touch screen, a swipe gesture on the address toolbar in the browser interface;

displaying, in response to the receiving of the swipe gesture, a preview portion of content associated with a second tab from the plurality of tabs while the swipe gesture is being received; and

switching, in response to the swipe gesture satisfying a predetermined threshold, from displaying the content associated with the first tab to displaying content associated with the second tab in the plurality of tabs.

18. The non-transitory machine-readable medium of claim 17, wherein the browser interface displayed on the touch screen comprises a user interface component containing a visual indication representing each tab in the plurality of tabs open in the browser interface, and wherein the visual indication for the tab whose content is displayed in the browser interface is highlighted.

19. The non-transitory machine-readable medium of claim 17, wherein ti operations further comprise:

determining a direction for the swipe gesture; and

selecting, based on the direction for the swipe gesture, the second tab from the plurality of tabs open in the web browser.

20. The non-transitory machine-readable medium of claim 17, wherein the operations further comprise:

determining a length of the swipe gesture; and

selecting, based on the length of the swipe gesture, the second tab from the plurality of tabs open in the web browser.